naa a22 4500 510784534 CHVBK 20180411083258.0 cr unu---uuuuu 180411e20130901xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s12045-013-0104-5 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s12045-013-0104-5 Joshipura K. Department of Physics, Sardar Patel University, 388 120, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat, India aut Atoms — How small, and how large! [Elektronische Daten] [K. Joshipura] The spatial extent of a free or an isolated atom can be gauged by defining its radius, and there are several different ways in which this quantity can be defined. Four of them are considered in this article. Quantum mechanical wave functions are employed to estimate the most probable and the average radii of atoms. Atomic polarizability radius and van der Waals radius are also considered, and all the four radii are examined across the periodic table. Atomic ions are then briefly dwelt upon, and a big contrast is noted in the sizes of (free) Li+ ion and the exotic H− ion, both iso-electronic with helium atom. Brief mention is also made of large exotic species like the metastable atoms and Rydberg atoms. The article seeks to provide a quantitative glimpse of how small or large the atomic systems can be. Indian Academy of Sciences, 2013 Atomic radius nationallicence quantum mechanical expectation nationallicence periodic table nationallicence polarizability nationallicence van der Waals radii nationallicence metastable atoms nationallicence Resonance Springer India 18/9(2013-09-01), 799-809 0971-8044 18:9<799 2013 18 12045 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-013-0104-5 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-013-0104-5 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 100 1- Joshipura K. Department of Physics, Sardar Patel University, 388 120, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat, India aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Resonance Springer India 18/9(2013-09-01), 799-809 0971-8044 18:9<799 2013 18 12045 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer